With the dawn of the information age, scanning technology that is employed to convert paper or other documents into digital documents plays an important role. In particular, scanning technology plays a very important role in reducing the amount of paper that is created in a typical business environment. Scanners contribute to an increase in the speed at which business affairs are conducted. For example, documents that are scanned into digital form may then be transmitted to recipients via the Internet or other network rather than using traditional mail or other couriers.
With all the promise and benefits of scanning technology, it still is plagued with various problems that may often prevent the faithful reproduction of hardcopy documents into digital form. For example, many scanners include inherent imperfections that mar the digital reproduction of scanned documents. Specifically, variations in optics such as lenses employed in scanners may contribute to less than perfect image creation. The various scanner sensors including those within sensor arrays may respond to power supply voltage differently and sensor output voltage ranges may vary from sensor to sensor. Also, variations in sensors generally exist due to process variations during the manufacturing. The light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) employed in scanners often vary in their performance due to process variations as well.
In addition, typically scanners are plagued with sensor failure over time due to degradation, usage, and incidental damage, etc. For example, in some cases, over time a few sensors may experience failure and constantly emit a single output voltage due to damage or degradation. Such failure may manifest itself in the appearance of vertical streaks or lines in a digital document produced by such a scanner. Unfortunately, it is difficult to counter the effects of such errant sensors.